Evaluation of Indonesia's Scientific Publication Performance: Quantity, Quality, Open Access, and Comparison with ASEAN Countries

Scientific publications are an important pillar in the development of national science and innovation. Indonesia has shown a rapid increase in the quantity of publications, fuelled by pro-publication government policies, and has a very high open access (OA) ratio (>90%), reflecting a commitment to open knowledge dissemination. However, a crucial question arises as to whether this growth in quantity is matched by an increase in quality and global scientific impact. This study aims to evaluate Indonesia's scientific publication performance by analysing its quantity, quality (citations), and open access indicators and comparing them with selected ASEAN countries. Researchers conducted analyses using a quantitative descriptive approach and secondary data from global publications over five years, employing Python to examine distributions, correlations, and regional comparisons. The results confirm that Indonesia excels in publication quantity (ranked 5th globally) and has a very high OA ratio. However, the average citations per article are still very low (around 18.3), far below ASEAN countries such as Singapore (298.3) and Malaysia (76.5). A significant negative correlation was found between the OA ratio and average citations per article (r=-0.44), suggesting that the current high open access has not automatically increased scientific impact or visibility globally, possibly because many publications are in journals with limited reputation and reach. Comparison with ASEAN countries highlights the gap between Indonesia's dominance in quantity and its lagging behind in citation quality/impact. These findings imply the need for a strategic reorientation in Indonesia's research ecosystem, moving away from a focus solely on quantity towards improving the quality of research substance, publishing in internationally reputable journals, strengthening global collaborations, and integrating open access policies with efforts to improve the quality of scientific content and visibility to strengthen Indonesia's contribution to the global science scene.